Various types of archery bows have been developed and which include traditional bows, that is, longbows and recurved bows, and more recently compound bows. As a general matter, all archery bows include a pair of opposed limbs extending outwardly from the opposite ends of a handle of the bow. As an archer draws the bow by pulling on a string or cable, the limbs flex and store energy. This energy is then transferred to the arrow as the archer releases the string or cable.
The limbs of a compound bow are generally much stiffer than those of a recurved bow or a longbow. This limb stiffness makes the compound bow more energy-efficient than other archery bows when used in conjunction with the pulley/cams as employed in modern compound bow construction. As is generally known, the compound bow has a string or cable which is applied to a variety of differently designed pulleys or cam shaped members. Further, the compound bow has one or more pulleys or cams which have other cables attached to the opposite limbs. When the string is drawn back, the string causes the pulleys or cams to turn. As force is applied, and as this draw continues, an archer has a reduced mechanical advantage, but during the draw as the pulley or cams rotate, and the archer gains mechanical advantage over the bending limbs, more energy is stored in the limbs in comparison to other archery bows. Generally speaking, the use of this well known leveraging system gives the compound bow a characteristic draw-force curve, which rises to a peak weight, and then, lets off, or reduces dramatically to a lower holding weight. This feature of the compound bow permits the archer to draw the arrow and then maintain aim on their target, prior to the release of the arrow, for a longer period of time thereby resulting in a better aimed shot. Generally speaking, one of the principal objectives of most archery bow design is to increase the speed at which an arrow is projected or propelled by a bow. Arrows which fly faster can maintain a flatter trajectory over a greater distance than slower traveling arrows. This enables faster flying arrows to be fired more accurately than slower traveling arrows.
While the various designs of compound bows have operated with various degrees of success, assorted shortcomings have detracted from their usefulness. One of the chief shortcomings to the compound bows that have been developed so far is that the strength required by the archer to draw the string or cable to an arrow release position steadily increases as the bow strength increases. While the assorted cams and other leverage achieved by the previous compound bow designs have reduced the amount of strength that the archer needs to have to hold the string at a full, arrow release position, the archer must still have a certain amount of strength, which will permit the archer to first draw the arrow, and then return the arrow from an arrow release position, to an at rest position in the event that the archer does not release the arrow at a target. Those skilled in the art recognize that bringing a compound bow back to an at rest position, from a previous, fully drawn position often requires a bit of strength, and talent, in order to prevent uncontrolled movement of the bow as the arrow is being returned. This is particularly important to hunters, especially when an archer is shooting from a camouflaged position, or from a tree stand, and the like, and where an excessive amount of movement of the bow could have the effect of scaring-off a potential animal target.
An archery bow which addresses these and other shortcomings attendant with the prior art archery bows, and other devices employed with archery bows, heretofore, is the subject matter of the present invention.